Qld coronavirus: Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young warns NRL over breaches
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has said she’s close to kicking NRL teams out of Queensland after a number of alleged quarantine breaches.
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Queensland health authorities have expressed concern about the behaviour of rugby league players in the state’s NRL bubble, with chief health officer Jeannette Young saying she was close to giving them the boot.
It comes after reports of a number of potential alleged quarantine breaches, including
a potential breach at a hotel on the Gold Coast, with reports of “families passing items between the floors and balconies”.
“I’m very very concerned about what is happening with these NRL players and you would have seen that imagery of that family hotel where they were sharing goods between verandas,” Dr Young said.
“So I am very concerned.”
She said NRL teams would be told to leave if there was one more breach.
As many as 500 people attached to the NRL flew into Queensland from Sydney on Wednesday.
There have also been allegations that Penrith star Api Koroisau twice snuck a woman into NSW Origin camp in the lead-up to and aftermath of Origin II in Brisbane in late June.
The allegations could jeopardise Koroisau’s place in the Brisbane Broncos v Penrith Panthers match on Saturday night.
His wife Amy and their two young daughters flew into Coolangatta on Wednesday to join her husband and his team.
It’s expected the family will spend 14 days in hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast before moving to the Sunshine Coast where Koroisau is based.
The Instagram accounts of Korosiau and his wife can no longer be found.
NRL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said on radio on Friday morning that he only became aware of the allegations on Thursday.
“It was first brought to the attention of the NSWRL yesterday who then referred it to the integrity department,” he said.
“We haven’t really had a chance to investigate it and see the veracity of the allegations.
“We’ve proven that anyone who breaches protocols and puts the competition at risk, and puts the income of all their fellow players at risk, they will be penalised.”
Maroons forward Jai Arrow was fined $35,000 and banned for two games for bringing an unregistered guest into Queensland camp leading into Origin III.
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